By Rotimi Ajayi & Favour Nnabugwu
ABUJA — The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, has approved the shutting down of some schools in Abuja in order to accommodate participants of the Abuja Carnival holding on November 24 through November 28.

The closure of the schools which classrooms were being converted to dormitories for troupes and participants of the carnival, came just as the students are preparing for the first term examinations.

Following the shut order, the students were asked to stay at home and resume on December 5, 2011.

The classrooms of one of the schools closed down for this year carnival, Government Secondary School, Garki were already being reconfigured for the accommodation purposes.

It was learnt that the organisers of the carnival had written to the Minister intimating him about the logistic preparations for the yearly event

The closure of schools for the carnival defied all attempts and offers of 50 per cent discount in all the hotels in Abuja by Hotel Owners Forum, HOFA

HOFA Abuja President, Mr Onofiok Ekong, in a telephone interview with Vanguard yesterday said the closure of schools for carnival was a big disappointment on the part of government.

Ekong told Vanguard that HOFA held a meeting with the committee and offered them 50 per cent discount in any hotel of the choice the troupes chose to lodge for the period the carnival would last yet they did not appreciate their effort rather chose to have their troupes and participants sleep in classrooms.

“We held a meeting with them where we offer them 50 percent discount in all the hotels in Abuja. We told them we have enough capacity to take all the troupes but the gesture has not been appreciated because they prefer to classrooms”.

One of the parents of the affected students who spoke to vanguard on anonymity lamented that government has made it a norm to shut down Government Secondary school, Garki for the carnival thereby upsetting school calendar whilst the student on resumption are put under intense pressure in order to meet up the calendar year.

The parent said “parents were pained even more by the silence by the school authority on the reason behind the stay at home. It is not right at all because there are hotels and apartment all over Abuja where they can accommodate their people why the schools?

“The students were asked to resume school on December 5, 2011. There was no explanation or notice to parents”.

Attempts to reach Professor Ojo Bakare, head of the committee and Artistic Director of the Carnival proved abortive as his telephone number was switched off.

Professor had earlier quoted in the media that the carnival was expected to play the role of a unifying agent, where every state and political interest group would dovetail into one, regardless of the fact that various political groups that emerged during the last general elections may have affected the unity and oneness of the country.

“The most visible is political reconciliation. As a national carnival, the organizers cannot afford to be involved in partisan politics or work according to the dictate of certain political ideologies. The carnival would be used as a platform to reconcile divergent political opinions because we need peace and unity to move ahead as a nation, “ He said.